Unlike politics, air conditioning has a place in the bedrooms of the nation. Temperature has long been the dominant influence on birth patterns; the hotter it gets, the less interested people are in sex. Demographic studies in the States have shown that for every 10 degrees the average monthly temperature rises, conception rates decline by up to 10 per cent. But since the rampant use of air conditioning, this trend has been flattened, which Cox believes demonstrates “the power that a human invention like air conditioning has to mould the biological patterns of life.” What’s more, he explains, cool temperatures enhance the viability of sperm, further enabling fertility. As one advertisement in India quipped, air conditioners are great for “improved performance in the bedroom.”
Air conditioning even explains morning sluggishness. A 2006 Japanese study showed long-term exposure can delay our daily dose of invigorating hormones until 10 a.m. or later. That’s because air conditioners are one of the best sleep aids. So much so that they may disrupt cortical rhythms, which awaken and energize us. Air conditioning also contributes to weight gain because, as a Danish study found, individuals eat more in cool environments. Plus, with air conditioners, our bodies convert more energy from food into fat because we don’t need to use it to chill off.
If predictions about climate change are correct, air conditioning could become even more crucial. Forty years from now, researchers predict the earth will experience 17 to 23 per cent more hot weather annually—and taking population growth into account, demand for cooling systems will rise by 65 to 72 per cent. As the climate warms, Cox points to research suggesting that malaria-carrying mosquitoes will expand their geographic range from tropical areas to the north. Already, the Asian tiger mosquito, which can spread dengue fever, has arrived in the southeastern States. Soon, we’ll need air-conditioned places just to escape diseased pests.
It’s a dizzying cycle. “As it gets hotter,” Cox explains, “we’ll become more dependent on air conditioning, which will feed the heating of the planet, and create even more demand for air conditioning. Where is it going to stop?” According to the “adaptive model of comfort,” our bodies are good at getting used to cool, dry temperatures, and within days, warmth becomes insufferable. That’s why Cox, 54, hasn’t used an air conditioner at home in decades, even though he owns one. Cox relates to a woman he once heard describe it this way: “We don’t use the air conditioner because it makes it too hot outside.”
As our heat tolerance declines, “nature deficit disorder” sets in. Air conditioners have all but displaced the need for shady trees to cool us down. Whereas homes used to feature big awnings and porches, and many windows for cross-drafts, now they’re built around air conditioners—and windows are sealed shut. Inadequate ventilation is linked to asthma and allergies. The suspected culprits, writes Cox, include “volatile organic compounds, moulds, and allergens in floor dust,” and bacteria, which air conditioners harness inside their coils and drip pans, and disperse.
Of course, air conditioners have also saved untold lives during heat waves, emphasizes Cox, who is also a senior scientist at the Land Institute, an agricultural research centre in Salina, Kan., and have enabled the very existence of hospitals and production of drugs. In this way, air conditioning is the ultimate paradox. It cools us, but makes our planet hotter. It encourages us to have sex, but makes us slow and heavier. It keeps us breathing when it’s suffocatingly hot, but invites deadly species to attack us.
The irony isn’t lost on Cox, who acknowledges there’s no going back. While writing Losing Our Cool, it got to the point where he was reluctant to tell people about the book. “I’d either get a blank stare like, ‘Why would you write about that?’ or a wide-eyed fear like, ‘No, you’re not going to take that away from me, are you?’ ” recalls Cox. It reminded him of an old gun-lobby slogan. “You can have my air conditioner,” muses Cox, “when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.”
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